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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28709745">Walking in the Rain</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctum_c/pseuds/sanctum_c'>sanctum_c</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Clerith Month 2017 [13]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aerith Gainsborough Lives, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Bed Rest, Clerith Month, Clerith Month 2017, Common Cold, Costa del Sol (Compilation of FFVII), F/M, Illnesses, Mansion Fic, Not Advent Children (Compilation of FFVII) Compliant, Not Before Crisis (Compilation of FFVII) Compliant, Not Compilation of Final Fantasy VII Compliant, Not Crisis Core (Compilation of FFVII) Compliant, Not Dirge of Cerberus (Compilation of FFVII) Compliant, Not Final Fantasy VII Remake Compliant, POV Aerith Gainsborough, Parental Tifa Lockhart, Post-Canon, Post-Canon Fix-It, Post-Final Fantasy VII, Rain, Sharing a Bed, Sick Character, Sickfic, Sneezing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2017-12-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2017-12-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 09:53:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>853</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28709745</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctum_c/pseuds/sanctum_c</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Aeris’s whole body jerked as she sneezed, the bed rattling with the movement. She took an awkward breath, tensed and- Nothing. She tensed again, the sneeze proving evasive now she was on the cusp. Almost, almost- Her body twitched and she sneezed again. And again. A fourth sneeze followed and then- Blessedly nothing. With a croaking groan she slumped back against the headboard, tugging the covers up a bit higher.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>Beside her Cloud sniffed and dabbed at his reddened nose with a wad of tissue. “I think I’m dying,” he muttered.</i>
</p><hr/><p>Aeris and Cloud pay the price for a stroll in the rain without coats.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aerith Gainsborough &amp; Tifa Lockhart, Aerith Gainsborough/Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockhart &amp; Cloud Strife</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Clerith Month 2017 [13]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2009509</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Walking in the Rain</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for the prompt 'Forehead Touch'</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Aeris’s whole body jerked as she sneezed, the bed rattling with the movement. She took an awkward breath, tensed and- Nothing. She tensed again, the sneeze proving evasive now she was on the cusp. Almost, almost- Her body twitched and she sneezed again. And again. A fourth sneeze followed and then- Blessedly nothing. With a croaking groan she slumped back against the headboard, tugging the covers up a bit higher. Beside her Cloud sniffed and dabbed at his reddened nose with a wad of tissue. “I think I’m dying,” he muttered.</p><p>“I thought SOLDIERs didn’t get sick?” Aeris’s voice was thicker than normal, the inside of her head something akin to cotton wool. So hard to think. Or breath. Or do much but lie in bed and wait for the end to arrive. Either a cure or death; neither seemed more preferable right now.</p><p>“I wish,” Cloud replied with another sniff.</p><p>Tifa re-entered the room empty-handed. “Couldn’t find a thermometer." She glanced back the way she came. "The previous owner did not seem to live here all that much. There’s almost nothing here besides cactuar-liquer and ice-cubes.” Hint of accusation in her voice.</p><p>Aeris squirmed. “I would have bought more groceries but-“</p><p>“But the two of you decided to go walking in the rain. Right?” Tifa rolled her eyes and shook her head at them.</p><p>“It was romantic,” Aeris protested in a weak voice as she sank a bit further into the bed.</p><p>“I’m sure it was." She shot her a grim smile. "But still think it was worth it?”</p><p>“No,” Aeris said in a quiet voice.</p><p>Tifa sighed. “I’ll give Barret a call and get him to bring some cold medicine with him. Or we’ll have to go shopping when he gets here. Is the Costa del Sol market open properly?”</p><p>Aeris shook her head. Moving them and their friends to the literal mansion Cloud bought while the world was ending had seemed like a good idea at the time. There were however unforeseen practical considerations no one had given much thought to. The original owner experiencing a serious case of seller's remorse was at least straight-forward. And in terms of the mansion's positioning as a holiday destination it was second to none for beach access and as a desirable location for living. Plenty of rooms rooms, an attic, a cellar, and - apparently - a good supply of cactuar-liquer. And some ice.</p><p>But the massive, expensive fridge was bare, and the permanent population of the town currently seemed to prefer catching their own fish to anything pre-packaged. There used to be more here, but Meteor changed so much. It would be some time before Costa del Sol returned to its hey-day. If it ever did. At this rate shopping might get expensive. But did that matter? All of Avalanche under one roof. Assuming they would all get on. And not get ill like the two of them. This was not the best start. “You're not keeping us under quarantine are you? I'm not that bad.” A poor lie.</p><p>“Unfortunately might be for the best,” Tifa remarked. “Oh, no you don't." Aeris paused with one foot out of bed. "Back into bed with you.“ She walked around to Aeris's side of the bed.</p><p>“But- Can we just try some materia?” Aeris protested.</p><p>“No. You know Cure does nothing to the common cold,” Tifa said in a gentle voice. She was right; Aeris had tried it on more than one occasion when she was younger. The attempts left her with a headache and as much of a blocked nose as before.</p><p>“I swear there is nothing common about this cold,” Cloud put in.</p><p>"You'll be fine in a few days and you won't know what you were complaining about," Tifa replied. Aeris opened her mouth to say something more but stopped as Tifa put her hand against her forehead. The other girl's hand was wonderfully cool; easy to miss how warm she felt. A shame Tifa dropped her hand away mere moments later. “You feel hot. Definitely can’t let you out of bed.” Aeris groaned and slumped back as Tifa padded to the other side of the bed and performed the same action on Cloud. “Yep. You two aren’t going anywhere.” A distant voice called somewhere else in the house. “That sounds like Barret. Just to you know, Marlene is not allowed in here until you're better.”</p><p>“We could… we could try and kill the germs with the booze?” Drinking did not seem like a good idea right now, but alcohol killed bacteria didn’t it? And it might help her sleep at least.</p><p>“We could, but I don’t think the others or me want to deal with you two sick and drunk.” Tifa sighed. “Just stay there. I’ll try and cook you some soup. Then I’ll drag one of the TVs in for you. For now the two of you focus on getting better.”</p><p>“Thank you Tifa,” Aeris said and sneezed again. Cloud echoed her words a moment later. “I think I hate the rain now," Aeris muttered once they were alone again.</p><p>“Me too.”</p>
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